김시습의 언해(諺解) 사업 참여와 절의 의 문제

Abstract

It is impossible to take on a nomadic path on the mental and spiritual level, while constantly revolving around the fixed past and longing for a place to settle down. Nomadic path, unlike simply wandering around and roaming from one place to another, is a flight to the new world. After Sejo's usurpation of Danjong's throne, Kim Si-sup wandered around every part and corner of Chosun for about ten years. He provided the Six Loyal Subjects what funeral rite he could. He also attempted to flee to the new world through his friendships with Buddhist priests, in-depth understanding of Buddhist sutras and development of various poetry-writing skills and techniques; some of them resulted in meaningful achievements. Scholars to date seem to have been reluctant to mention Kim Si-sup's participation in King Sejo's Korean Alphabetization Project (Onhae saop), translating texts written in Classical Chinese into Korean Alphabet invented by King Sejong in 1443. It seems to have sprung out of the concern that this might do harm to Kim Si-sup's reputation as a person devoted to loyal and righteous life. However, this is a misunderstanding derived from detaching this specific incident from the overall context of his life. More concrete and coherent argument can be constructed centering one's concern about the time period one is situated in, by facing and confirming the substance and entity of the opponents or the counterparts that one is criticizing. Kim Si-sup's work at Naebul-dang and Wongak-sa had triggered him to clearly realize what and who it is that he is dealing with. In this aspect, this incident can be understood as a threshold that rendered him to cross from the territory of the past to that of the future. Kim Si-sup, through this, had entered the age of mental nomadization from the physical wandering.